The field service management is seeing tremendous growth in 2020 as needs of various industries like telecommunications, IT, healthcare, mining, logistics, and transportation become more demanding and complex. These requirements include the constant reevaluation and reallocation of resources, real-time communication, faster dispatching, quick access to and sharing of reliable information, routing and scheduling optimization.
The entry of field service management software improved the operational efficiencies of field service management operators while drastically reducing their expenses. Adoption of field service management and service scheduling software is poised to be massive in the near future. According to a 2019 forecast published by Reports and Data, the international field service management software market will grow from $2.7-billion industry in 2018 to $9.88 billion by the end of 2024.
Whether your company is already using an FSM solution or is considering investing in one, the following expert tips will help you to further simplify all your field service management tasks and maximize your investment, regardless of the types of field service management software.
Your field service technicians and engineers are your company’s foot soldiers, brand ambassadors so to speak. Thus, it is crucial that they remain empowered, engaged, and motivated. With your field service management software, you have a platform with which you can lead your field service crew proactively and raise their engagement as well as fuel their motivation to perform well on the field.
Bear in mind that scheduling is an essential part of your organization’s operations. Thus, decisions, actions, and changes with regards to scheduling has to be strategic and value-driven. Using your service scheduling software for small business or large enterprise, you can create schedules for your technicians based on their availability, skills, routes, as well as customers’ preferences.
By implementing a smart scheduling strategy, you boost your technicians’ productivity by as much as 68%. Not only do you empower your technicians to perform at an optimum pace, you set them up for success.
On top of that, dispatch teams can change work orders in real-time and send the available and most qualified technicians almost immediately. Dispatchers can quickly provide technicians the information, tools, and processes they need to accomplish their tasks. This agility provides a great experience to your customers while empowering your technicians to perform at a productive and efficient level.
It is also crucial that your field technicians are on the same page with you when it comes to your field service management software. If technicians and engineers do not adopt the platform, your employees will not enjoy its throng of advantages like automation and data analysis, which leads to poor productivity and low efficiency. In turn, your organization won’t be able to generate a handsome ROI.
Using a field service manager software, your managers are able to identify which technicians are adopting and utilizing your field service management system as well as determine technicians who are having difficulty utilizing it. Schedule your technicians for training and refreshers to keep them sharp and knowledgeable about the software. Whenever a new feature or tool is introduced, make sure your technicians are informed about it.
As a field service manager, your job also includes aiding your workers to get acquainted and comfortable with the software. You must get them to use it to make their work faster and easier. Keeping them onboard and empowered also ensure that you are maximizing your investment and generate a potentially large return at the end.
Apart from smart scheduling and constant training, your field service technicians need to be agile and mobile once they are in the field. And nothing gives them a high level of agility and mobile by equipping them with mobile-based field service apps.
With mobile apps, field service technicians can easily access information about their clients and their issues. This helps them prepare their tools and devise viable plans to address issues long before they arrive. Technicians and engineers can also contact clients to alert them of their arrival and motivate the latter to collaborate if needed.
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Mobile field service apps not only supply field technicians and engineers with real-time information, they can also make modifications to their work schedule if its means boosting productivity and reducing operational costs. Changing service routes or servicing clients who are much nearer than the ones on their list are prime examples.
Using mobile apps, technicians can quickly send relevant information to dispatchers and supervisors in just a few clicks. They can inform management that they require additional parts, send progress reports, and their observations in real-time, allowing management to receive important details and respond appropriately without losing valuable time.
The aforementioned tips to simplify and maximize your field service management software will help you get the most value out of your investment. But you also need to keep an eye out on disruptive technologies that are now impacting numerous industries, field service included. Technologies like artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, and augmented reality are expected to make their presence felt within the next five to 10 years.
Artificial intelligence, in particular, is slowly gaining traction. It’s been predicted that AI will keep track of 10% of all field service work and will be utilized to identify and assign better routes, send tasks to the most qualified technicians and engineers, gather and analyze data for insights. AI will also be used to automatically generate instant quotes to attract more customers and streamline appointment and scheduling.
It is crucial to keep watch on these disruptive techs as they progress and be aware of how they can change field service management for the better. They may not be the standard yet but experts argue that these technologies are the future of the industry. It will serve you well to know ahead so your company can adapt quickly and seamlessly when the future comes.
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